Santa Anita Finale: Proletariat seeks fourth straight win

Three-year-old gelding Proletariat enters the Santa Anita autumn finale on Sunday with a four-race winning streak intact. The horse, trained by Jeff Mullins and ridden by Kyle Frey, is favored in the Grade II Twilight Derby. The race covers 1 1/8 miles on turf and serves as the final event of the meet.

Proletariat is by Raging Bull and has won the Oceanside Stakes and the Del Mar Derby this year. A victory in the Twilight Derby would mark his third stakes win of the season. The field consists of six horses. Leonard Powell’s Unrivaled Time, ridden by Joel Rosario, is a California-bred stakes winner. Phil D’Amato trains two entries: Path to Power, ridden by Juan Hernandez, and Melismatic, ridden by Kazushi Kimura. D’Amato also fields Tribalism, ridden by Jamie Spencer, and Essos, ridden by Umberto Rispoli.

Winning this specific race has launched careers for other horses. Test Score won the Twilight Derby last year before being entered in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. He was scratched from that race on Wednesday. Cabo Spirit won the same race in 2022 and is entered in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Both Breeders’ Cup events are scheduled for Saturday at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky.

Santa Anita hosts three stakes races on Saturday. The Grade III Goldikova Stakes leads the card. It is a one-mile turf race for fillies and mares aged three and older, carrying a purse of $100,000. Jonathan Thomas trains three horses in the 11-horse field. Miss Nightfall, ridden by Jamie Spencer, comes off a win at Saratoga. A win would extend a streak of three consecutive out-of-state winners. Thomas’ Ambaya, ridden by Emanuel Esquivel, and Richard Mandella’s May Day Ready, ridden by Drayden Van Dyke, are also in the race.

The jockey standings at Santa Anita have effectively settled. Juan Hernandez leads with 19 wins, securing his first riding title at the track since the previous autumn meet. He is scheduled to ride seven horses on Sunday. Emisael Jaramillo is second with 17 wins but has no more mounts listed for the finale. Kazushi Kimura (15 wins) and Joel Rosario (14 wins) are entered in six races on Sunday. Kyle Frey, riding Proletariat, has 10 wins. Doug O’Neill leads the trainer standings with 13 victories.

Los Alamitos and Santa Anita are adjusting their schedules to accommodate the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland. Santa Anita opens its gates at 8:15 a.m. on Friday and 7:45 a.m. on Saturday. Los Alamitos opens at 8:30 a.m. on Friday and 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. The Keeneland card starts at 8:55 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Friday, with the first Breeders’ Cup race at 11:55 a.m. Saturday’s Keeneland card starts at 8:15 a.m. PDT, with the first of nine Cup races at 10:10 a.m.

At Los Alamitos, quarter horse Lightning Vaquera won her second consecutive race. The New Mexico-bred filly defeated Revenantly by a neck in the $1,164,150 Grade I Golden State Million Futurity on Sunday. Gerardo Vera rode the horse for trainer Manuel Rodriguez. Vera noted that he could see Revenantly next to him but that Lightning Vaquera kept grabbing the bit and gaining strength.

Betting markets for the 2027 Kentucky Derby opened on Wednesday. The market closes at 1 p.m. PDT on Friday, prior to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. U.S.S. Valor, the winner of the Champagne Stakes at Belmont, is the morning-line favorite at 8-1. He will skip the Breeders’ Cup. Other top odds include Hughes at 10-1, Coach Pope at 15-1, and Salahudin at 25-1. Thirty-nine individual horses are offered for betting, alongside an "all others" option. The morning line for the "none of the above" option is set at 6-5.

First post times for the final weekend are set. Friday racing begins at 1:00 p.m. Saturday racing begins at 12:30 p.m. The Sunday finale begins at noon.